by Unknown
“Hello?”
Yes. “Hello? Is this Annabelle Evans?”
“Speaking.”
Jo had to force her jaw to unclench. “Is Zachary Beckett there?”
“Who’s asking?”
“Johra Yashodhar.”
Silence for a moment. “The teacher of the court’s novices?”
The stunned amusement in the other witch’s voice had Jo’s temper rising to the surface once again. She was stuck in this damn hospital bed with foul needles stuck in her arm and a headache that would knock a mixed martial arts fighter onto his ass, and Annabelle Evans was laughing at her? “That would be me.”
“Why would you be calling for—hmm. Are you two dating?”
“No!” Jo whimpered. She really shouldn’t yell for, oh, the next decade or so. Maybe by then her skull would have stopped trying to split itself open. “I’m his teacher.”
“His teacher?” And Annabelle started to laugh. “Oh dear Lord and Lady, who in the world thought that was a good idea? Roland?”
“Every other teacher who refused to train him.” She knew she was growling, but she hated being laughed at with a passion.
“What do you mean by that?” Danger suddenly laced Mrs. Evan’s voice, and power.
But Jo knew she could match that power, possibly even exceed it. She was second in line to run the Yashodhar Coven and was no mere novice like Beckett.
For the first time she let her frustration out. “Oh come on. He’s the worst witch I’ve ever met. None of the advanced teachers could do a damn thing with him, so Roland saddled me with him. Now put him on the phone. I have a few things to say to him about leaving court without permission.” Not to mention the hospital bill she planned on slapping him with.
She heard Mrs. Evans draw a deep breath. “You moron. You idiot! Do you have any clue what you may have done?”
Jo’s brows rose. “Excuse me?” The woman sounded seriously pissed off. “What the hell are you talking about?” The only thing Jo had done was hunker down and try to survive Hurricane Zach.
“If he’s damaged in any way you will answer to me.”
Jo’s eyes narrowed at the threat. “That boy is a menace!” How could such a powerful woman be so blind?
“That man is more than you and your narrow world views could possibly imagine.”
Jo pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it for a moment. “We are talking about Zachary Beckett, right?”
“Johra Yashodhar.” Power rippled down the line. “I bind you from—”
Jo slammed the phone shut. “Lord and Lady hear my plea! Protect me from adversity.” She repeated the mantra three times, ending with, “As I will so mote it be!”
She breathed deep, and waited to see if she felt the binding magic Annabelle Evans had almost slammed her with.
Nothing. She felt exactly the same.
She collapsed against the back of her hospital bed with a sigh of relief. The phone fell from her hand onto the hard mattress.
“What the hell is going on?”
She needed to get out of this place, track Beckett down, and find out why the matriarch of the Evans Coven was willing to bind another witch just to keep him safe.
First things first. Something was seriously screwed up, and no way was she going up against the Evans and the Beckett families blind. She needed to check out the Beckett family, and the best way to do that was to look them up in The Registry. Maybe something would show up there that would give her some insight into Zach and his issues. She picked up her phone and dialed a number she knew by heart.
“Hello?”
“Arianna, could you do me a favor before you come here?”
“Pick you up some Valium?” The Princess chuckled.
“No, dork. Bring The Registry with you.”
“Do I want to know why?”
“I’m not sure. Remember what you said about Zach being precious?”
“Yeah?”
“Annabelle Evans just tried to bind me from doing him harm.”
“Holy shit. Give me an extra five minutes to grab it and I’ll be on my way.”
“Thanks, hon. I appreciate it.” Jo hung up and collapsed against the bed. Her hands were shaking and her head pounding.
Zach had earned the protection of a very powerful witch. Maybe Jo needed to stop bitching about his learning disabilities and figure out how…and why.
“Okay, Zach.” Gareth dropped the last crust onto his plate and sat back with a sigh. “You’ve stuffed yourself with more pizza than a bunch of six-year-olds at Chuck E. Cheese. Now will you tell us what the fuck is going on?”
He wiped his hands off onto a napkin and went for the three-point shot into the trash can, startling Alasdair, Chris’s dainty black cat and familiar. “Score!”
“Dweeb.”
Zach shot Daniel the finger.
“Zachary.”
He hunched his shoulders. “Sorry, Annabelle.”
Annabelle began picking up the plates. It might be Lana’s home now, but Annabelle clearly considered it her domain. He wondered what his mother thought of that. “Be polite, young man.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Zach stuck his tongue out at his brother when he thought Annabelle wasn’t looking.
“Zachary.”
“Busted,” Gareth chuckled. He stood and began helping Annabelle with the plates. “Come on, Zach. You can tell us.”
“Yup. Tell us how you screwed up this time, little bro.” Daniel put his hands behind his head and smirked at him.
Zach dropped his head onto the table with a bang. “I turned the seal of the Witch Prince into a green M&M.”
Silence. Oh joy.
“At the same time the mosaic in the front of the Lodge also got turned into M&Ms.”
Someone snickered. He wasn’t certain who.
“The Prince wants my balls. I think the Princess wants my babies. And my teacher wants my head.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “So yeah. I’ve screwed up again.” He took a deep breath and spoke his deepest fear to the one person who would understand. “Annabelle, do you think I should have my magic stilled?”
“NO!” Annabelle pulled his hands away from his face. “Don’t even think about it. I know you don’t understand yet. Frankly, I’m not sure I do, either. It’s why I wanted you at court, to see if my hunch was correct.” She settled next to him and patted his knee. “You’re more than you know, Zach. Never let anyone tell you otherwise.”
“But—”
“No buts. Remember what you are. You are a witch, Zach. Your emotional state can and will affect your magic. When you doubt yourself—”
“I screw up even more?”
She nodded.
He took hold of her hand and tried to ignore his brothers and Lana. Otherwise he might not be able to get this out. “All my life I’ve been the weakest, the worst. It’s hard to overcome that, especially now. The whole court thinks I’m a loser and they’re not afraid to tell me so.”
The low, inhuman growl from Gareth startled him. “Tell me who.”
Oh boy. “Down boy. Heel.”
Gareth shook his head, but Zach could see the amusement lightening his features. Given half a chance Zach had no doubt Gareth would head over to the court and give even the Prince a piece of his mind.
“You’re not going back.”
Annabelle stood and did her best to stare Gareth down. “You have no say over that, Gareth. He must be trained by witches.”
“Then you and Lana can train him, but I’m not sending my baby brother back into that pit of assholes.” Gareth crossed his arms, looking more than ready to do battle with Annabelle. “We’re the only ones who truly believe in him.”
Zach rolled his eyes. That was a load of bull.
“Hey.” Soft arms draped around his neck. “I believe in you.”
He turned his head and pressed a kiss to Lana’s cheek. “Thanks, sis.”
She grinned at him. “Heh. I like that.” She leaned back, miss
ing the wink Chris sent him. That alone made him feel better. It meant that whatever bad blood may still have lain between them had been absolved. “Okay, Danger-Prone Daphne, let’s figure out how to solve your problem, okay?” She wagged her finger at him. “No giving up.”
He shook his head. “No giving up.”
“I’m not sure what we can do to help him.” Daniel scratched his chest and yawned. “He’s a witch. According to you—” he waved his hand at Annabelle, “—we’ve messed him up almost beyond redemption. Won’t we make things worse?”
Annabelle studied Daniel like a worm under a microscope. “Do you love your brother?”
Zach turned, dying to hear the answer.
Daniel squirmed.
Annabelle glared.
“Yes, all right? I love all my brothers. But Zach… Zach’s different.” Daniel shrugged. “He’s the one we always had to watch, you know? Mom always asked us to keep an eye out for him.”
“And you resented him for it, didn’t you?”
Zach’s jaw clenched.
Daniel huffed out a rough breath. “Yeah. Maybe.” The look he shot Annabelle bordered on hostile. “But you have to admit, he needed watching. He’d do the most interesting things with an incense burner, a wand and talcum powder I’ve ever seen.”
Zach kicked Daniel under the table. “Ix-nay on the urner-bay.”
“You’re the one who did that to my burner?” Chris’s eyes had damn near popped out of his head. “Dude. That’s just wrong.”
“Yeah. Story of my life.” Zach stood and stretched. “We have any ice cream?”
“Why aren’t you the size of a house?” Lana followed him into the kitchen, grabbing the Rocky Road out of the freezer.
“Sweet. Chocolate syrup.” Zach placed that on the counter and pulled down enough bowls for everyone. “I have a good metabolism.” And a wolf willing to help him run off all his tension.
Zach was a very tense boy these days.
“Zach?”
Something about her tone of voice put him on his guard. “Hmm?”
“Maybe you should think about the Beckett spell.”
He turned to face her, damn near choking on air. “What?”
“Think about it. If you had someone who was on your side no matter what, who believed in you when no one else did, I think you’d be the greatest witch the world has ever seen.”
He blinked. He could feel his cheeks blushing. “I don’t think Chris would appreciate it if I tried to make off with his mate.” He brushed a kiss against her cheek. “But I’m glad you believe in me.”
She held up her hand, the shadow of the wolf still showing the blue of Zach’s eyes. “I’m not certain you have a choice in the matter.”
He shook his head. There was only one woman he truly wanted and he doubted she wanted the same. “I don’t know, Lana.”
She took his damaged hand and placed the family emerald into it. “Trust me, Zach. My instincts are screaming on this one. Do the spell.”
He clutched the ring in his hand. Something about the weight of it soothed him deep inside. His wolf perked up at the feel of the emerald. “Shit.”
“I’m right, aren’t I?” She licked some chocolate ice cream off her spoon. “Your wolf wants its mate.”
He slumped against the counter, the ring feeling somehow right in his palm. The pain he always felt was diminished, lost in the urge to do what all the Beckett males had done for generations.
Find his mate.
He thought of a certain sexy teacher he had more than the hots for. What were the odds she’d wind up the woman for him? “Shit. I’m screwed.” He shoved a huge mouthful of Rocky Road in his mouth and ignored the laughter of the woman beside him. “Fine. What could it hurt to cast the spell? How much worse could my life get right now?”
When Lana snorted with laughter he chose not to answer that question. It might get him incinerated.
Chapter Five
“Holy. Fuck.” Jo’s eyes were damn near bugging out of her head. Arianna didn’t look much better. “Am I seeing what you’re seeing?”
Ari nodded, her face so pale Jo was worried she was going to pass out. “How are we going to tell Roland?”
Jo stared at her friend. “How the hell are we going to tell the court? They’ve mocked the guy to his face. We’re lucky they haven’t all ‘accidentally’ become toads.”
“Roland’s going to shit a brick.”
“What the hell was Annabelle Evans thinking? And why didn’t she warn us?” Jo swallowed hard. “I mean, we might have been a little more, I dunno, careful around the guy.”
“You’d have to ask Roland. If she told him, he didn’t tell me.” Ari shook her head. “I don’t think she did. He always acts different around them. And Roland was talking about having him stilled, for the Lady’s sake! Thank the deities I talked him out of that.” Arianna shuddered.
“You’re the one who said there was something precious about him, remember?” Jo put her hands on her hips. “How did you know?”
“I didn’t, I swear! I just had a feeling he was different. You think I would have put Roland in danger?”
Jo rolled her eyes. “Shut up about Roland. We need to get to Zach.”
Arianna blinked. “I can’t believe he’s a—”
Jo clapped her hand over her friend’s mouth. “Don’t say it. Someone might hear.” And then Zach might be in even more danger. Why the hell hadn’t she listened to her instincts? Now he was out there, alone, untrained and ready to do some serious damage. It was her duty as his teacher to take care of him. “I have to find him.”
“You’re not equipped to deal with what Zachary Beckett is. None of us are. We need the cavalry for that.” The two women exchanged glances. “What the hell was Annabelle thinking?” Ari blinked, a crafty smile creeping across her face.
Jo didn’t like that look any more than she had the last time it crossed Ari’s face. She still hadn’t gotten all the blood out of that shirt. “You’re not thinking of calling who I think you’re thinking of calling, are you?”
Ari shrugged. “You have a better idea?”
Jo straightened up from the table and glared down at the open Registry. She’d been forced to wait until returning to the Lodge to check out the entry on the Beckett brothers. Arianna hadn’t been able to sneak it past her husband. “I’m still going after him.” She had to.
No. She needed to.
“Jo. He’s not your problem anymore.” Ari’s hand landed on her shoulder. “Let…them deal with it.”
Jo shook her head. She had a very, very bad feeling about this. “No. I need to be with him.” Her head shot up. “I mean I need to be there for him.”
Ari bit her lip. “Keep telling yourself that.”
Jo intended to. She planned on telling herself that until she actually began to believe it.
Ari sighed. “What about his brother, Gareth? He’s the heir to the Wizard throne. You think he might give you some trouble?”
Jo stared at her in disbelief. “More trouble than Zach?”
Ari winced. “Good point.” She shook herself. “Let me make that phone call.”
“And I need to set up my plane ride and a place to stay.” She glared down at The Registry. “Ari?”
“Yeah?”
“Where does Zachary Beckett live?”
Ari rolled her eyes. “I’ll check the Archives.” She left the room, leaving one very confused witch in her wake.
What the hell was Jo going to do about this?
More importantly: did Zach know what he was?
“Are you sure about this?”
Zach stared down at his preparations, mentally checking and rechecking each and every one. The runic circle looked right to him, if not to his brothers. The configuration he’d placed them in had made Chris gasp and Daniel groan, but Zach knew he was right to lay them out in a Hecate’s wheel. There was a beautiful symmetry about the symbol that called to him in ways he didn’t fully understand. But he
did know one thing. “It will work. Trust me.”
“But why the wheel, Zach? Isn’t that dangerous?”
Zach ran his finger down the rune for love and smiled. “No. I think it’s just right.” He shot Daniel a look when the other man snorted in derision. “Shut up, fuckwad.” Daniel had been giving him nothing but grief since he’d found out Zach was going to cast the Beckett mate spell. Then again, Daniel just liked giving Zach grief.
Daniel shot him the finger but kept his mouth closed.
The cinnamon incense tickled his nose, making him think of apple pies and cuddling under blankets on cold winter nights. The small fire he’d created in Chris’s cauldron burned merrily. He’d waved away Chris’s offer of colored candles, preferring to go with pure white. His instincts told him he didn’t need to worry about color magic tonight. A rose for love and an iris for wisdom, the stems braided through the Beckett emerald ring, sweetly scented the air and brought spring into the workroom.
Every item held a piece of the Beckett mate spell, but with Zach’s unique twist. Daniel had shaken his head as he watched Zach put the spell together, muttering under his breath when Zach decided to do away with the purple silk robe in favor of a white cotton one. Every Beckett had worn the purple robes for the casting of this particular spell, but Zach knew it was wrong for him.
He wasn’t like any other Beckett. He had to do things his way.
He was beginning to understand why Lana had been so hesitant to accept a wizard for a mate. Explaining to his brothers that he did something because it “felt right” was turning out to be more of a pain in the ass than he’d thought it would be. From Chris’s worried looks, to Gareth’s supposedly helpful suggestions to Daniel’s derision, he was ready to toss the whole lot of them out onto the front lawn. If they were lucky he might unlock the door when he was done.
He took one last look at the spell itself. The words were the bond, the cement that would bring the pieces of his magical puzzle together. The words he was keeping. Without them, he knew the spell would fizzle out and he’d never find his mate.
He glanced down one more time at his work, rolled his eyes, and removed the green M&M from the middle of the emerald ring. “Gareth.”